A unique book has been published, created by photographer, guide, and activist Dmitry Soloviov in collaboration with British writer and architectural critic Owen Hatherley. This is not just a photo album. It is an in-depth study of Ukraine’s architectural landscape — from the philosophy of constructivism in the 1920s to post-Soviet modernist buildings that are now under threat of destruction. The authors show Ukraine not as a “land of gold and domes,” but as one of the most modernist countries in Europe.

The book pays special attention to the stories of buildings that have been given new life thanks to the initiatives of students and activists. One example is the Peremoha cinema, which struggled to compete with new private cinemas that began to appear in popular shopping centers, so after years of decline, in 2023 it was transformed into an innovative cultural and technological space — the Peremoha Center.

Importantly, the revitalization preserved the building’s authentic facade and bas-relief by Oleksii Kriukov. This book is a reinterpretation of architectural history and a look at Ukraine through the prism of its modernist heritage, which is now being actively destroyed — either physically or through oblivion.